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London School Board election, 1870
The first election to the School Board for London was held on Tuesday, 29 November 1870. The election was historic, as the school board was the first London-wide popularily elected body. The electorate was very wide. It included all ratepayers, including women, who were entitled to vote in vestry elections, and women could also be members. The "Metropolis" or area of the Metropolitan Board of Works was divided into ten divisions for the election of school board members: each division returned between four and seven members depending on population. The board had 49 seats, for which there were 133 candidates. Although there were no formal parties or political groupings many candidates were endorsed by local Liberal or Unionist organisations. In addition there was a strong religious element to the election, with a large number of prominent Church of England clergy and laymen standing, as well as Roman Catholics and Non-Conformists. Other candidates were described as "non-sectarian". Each voter had a number of votes equal to the number of seats in the division. The voter was free to allocate the votes between the candidates in any way they wished. Where an elector gave all of his votes to a single candidate this was known as "plumping", and was seen as a way of ensuring representation of minority religious denominations. Voting was by secret ballot, with the exception of the City of London, where open voting was used. Results Reynold's News classified the members elected in 1870 in the following terms: *16 Church of England *19 "unsectarian" *7 Nonconformists *3 Roman Catholics *2 "Lady members" *1 Working Man (The list contained the names of 48 members; the newspaper did not assign John MacGregor to any group) Successful candidates are shown in bold type. City of London (4 members) Chelsea (4 members) Finsbury (6 members) Greenwich (4 members) Hackney (5 members) Lambeth (5 members) Marylebone (7 members) Southwark (4 members) Tower Hamlets (5 members) Westminster (5 members) Byelections to 1873 The school board elected in 1870 had a three-year term of office. Where casual vacancies occurred these were filled by the holding of by-elections. There were five by-elections in the term of the first board. City of London (February 1872) Resignation of Rogers 13 December 1871. The election was fixed for 12 February. However, when nominations closed on 3 February, there was only one candidate. Marylebone (28 March 1872) Resignation of Huxley 7 February 1872. Finsbury (4 April 1872) Resignation of Torres February 1872. Westminster (19 April 1872) Resignation of Sandon 21 February 1872. Greenwich (27 May 1872) Resignation of Miller 20 March 1872. Unfilled vacancies at Lambeth and Hackney on 16 October 1872 William Green resigned his seat as a representative of Hackney on health grounds. No attempt was made to fill the vacancy: the Statistical Committee of the board was asked to consider promoting a private act to allow them to fill casual vacancies without the expense of an election. On 27 November 1872 Sir Thomas Tilson resigned his seat at Lambeth due to ill health. Following the receipt of a petition from the ratepayers of the division against holding a byelection on the grounds of cost, the board passed a resolution on 19 February 1873 not to fill the vacancy prior to the next school board election. Category:Elections